CANIS. 



larger and stronger than in England. See 

 Mammalia, Plate V. fig. 1. 



Another variety is the dingo, Australa- 

 sian, or New Holland dog. Plate V. fig. 

 2. This dog does not bark so readily as 

 the European dogs: its appearance much 

 resembles the larger kind of the shep- 

 herd's dog, audit is extremely fierce and 

 untractable. 



The Pomeranian dog, another variety, 

 is generally white, and is distinguished, 

 among several characteristics, by the cur- 

 vature of its tail, extending very nearly 

 to a circle. Plate V. fig. 3. 



A fourth variety is the Siberian. These 

 dogs are frequently employed in Siberia 

 and Kamtschatka, "in drawing sledges on 

 the frozen snow, and four or six of them 

 yoked to a sledge will convey three per- 

 sons with the usual quantity of baggage, 

 forty miles or more in a day. The exer- 

 tions of these dogs, however, are more to 

 be praised than their fidelity or attach- 

 ment Their perverseness and subtlety 

 are a source of great vexation to their em- 

 ployers, who, however, notwithstanding 

 the malignity and cunning they are thus 

 so incessantly called upon to counteract, 

 find these animals indispensable to the 

 convenience and intercourse of these arc- 

 tic regions. See Plate V. fig. 4. 



The Iceland dog is but little different 

 from the last, as will be seen by a refer- 

 ence to Plate V. fig. 5. Its general colour 

 is black. 



For the great barbet, see Plate V. fig. 6. 



The blood-hound was, some ages since, 

 highly esteemed in England, and much 

 employed in the pursuit of robbers. The 

 accuteness of its smell is so extraordinary, 

 that it has traced a man to the distance of 

 seven miles, along a much frequented 

 high-way, and through several market 

 towns, to the very upper room in which 

 he was taking refreshment. 



The Irish grey-hound, now extremely 

 rare even in Ireland itself, is perhaps the 

 most beautiful and majestic, as well as 

 the largest of all dogs. It was this dog 

 which was principally employed in clear- 

 ing the island of wolves. It is, however, 

 unfit for hunting foxes, hares, or stags, 

 and is kept by a few persons merely for 

 its beauty and size. Dr. Goldsmith has 

 seen one four feet high. 



The mastiff, another variety, is of a very 

 strong and thick structure, with a large 

 head, and the sides of the lips pendulous. 

 In the reign of James I. a trial of its vigour 

 and courage was made in the Tower of 

 London, and three mastiffs being opposed 

 ^o a lion, two were mutilated and disabled. 



but the third obliged the lion to hate Re- 

 course to flight. 



The terrier, another variety, is much 

 employed in unearthing foxes, and to all 

 those quardrupeds, which are compre- 

 hended in the class of Vermin, bears the 

 strongest antipathy. A well-trained ter- 

 rier is frequently found an over-match 

 even for the fierce and hardy badger, 

 This dog is extremely useful as an attend- 

 ant on every pack of hounds, to compel 

 the game from its close cover of earth or 

 thicket. 



The chief peculiarities of the species, 

 of which these few varieties out of many 

 have been riven, are these. It cultivates 

 the society of man; has rarely been found 

 wild ; feeds on flesh and farinaceous 

 vegetables, but not on greens ; it digests 

 bones ; urines frequently, holding up its 

 leg ; dungs upon a stone ; vomits itself 

 by grass; runs in an oblique direction ; 

 very rarely sweats, but lolls out its tongue 

 when hot. The male young resemble the 

 dog, and the female the bitch. It is ex- 

 tremely docile, affectionate, and vigilant, 

 in its intercourse with man ; it eats with 

 a glancing and envious eye; has a great 

 aversion to strangers, and particularly to 

 beggars; licks wounds; hears and dreams 

 in its sleep ; sets up a howl on hearing 

 musical sounds ; and bites stones thrown 

 at it; possesses a most acute s^nse of 

 smell ; is liable to gonorrhoea; is subject 

 also to madness, which it imparts by 

 biting, and in old age is addicted to gnaw- 

 ing itself. It is regarded by the followers 

 of Mahomet as unclean. 



C. lupus, the wolf. These animals are 

 found in altnoat all the temperate and cold 

 climates of the globe. They abounded 

 formerly in Great Britain and Ireland, but 

 were extirpated by government's com- 

 muting the punishment for several of- 

 fences for a proportionate number of 

 wolves' tongues, or by the substitution in 

 Wales of acertain numberof wolves'heads 

 for a particular amount of money in taxes. 

 Some lands were also held,on condition of 

 the occupiers destroy ing yearly a certain 

 number of these dangerous animals. 



In America, wolves are reported to go 

 in droves,and to hunt various animals with 

 the most terrific and hidious bowlings, 

 not scrupling, when urged by hunger, to 

 attack even the buffaloe itself. To allay 

 their hunger, it is stated that they will 

 swallow large quantities of mud. In 

 Sweden the carcases of animals are pur- 

 posely laid in their way, stuffed with tree 

 moss and pounded glass, which render 

 the repast fatal to them. They are, lik^ 



